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Topic: Zoloft while pregnant.....help (Read 533 times)

I've been having a hard time I'm 18 weeks pregnant and was prescribed Zoloft to help treat my panic attacks that have become worse once I entered into my 2nd trimester. Before getting pregnant I was on celexa and trazedone and went off of those cold turkey..... Has anyone been on Zoloft? I'm experiencing nausea, loss of appetite, and increased anxiety at times..... Has anyone been on this while pregnant? I'm so scared about not being hungry and I do force myself to eat but I'm not eating as much as I was before....please tell me this passes.......I need some words of encouragement especially because my family is divided about me agreeing to take the Zoloft in the first place but my OB assured me it was safe please help

Before getting pregnant I was on celexa and trazedone and went off of those cold turkey.....

It wasn't necessary to quit the Celexa, and, depending on the dose, probably not the trazodone either, plus quitting any psych drug cold-turkey is very unwise. Please do not do this ever again!

With the exception of Paxil (paroxetine) it is unclear that SSRIs significantly increase the odds of birth defects or complications. Studies have reported higher incidents of defects, but there doesn't seem to be a common pattern to them which may indicate the studies aren't showing a real issue, but just reporting statistical noise. The problem is that the number of patients in each study tends to be low, the defects tend to be mostly the rare ones and the increased incidences they report are often small.

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Has anyone been on Zoloft? I'm experiencing nausea, loss of appetite, and increased anxiety at times

Unfortunately, these side-effects are fairly typical of SSRIs. You may not have experience them when you began taking Celexa, but you may well have this time too if you'd begun taking it instead of Zoloft. For reasons that aren't clear, the initial side-effects tend to become more severe each time antidepressants are stopped and restarted.This is the case both when taking the same antidepressant as before, or a different one. A higher dose may also be required the achieve previous results.

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please tell me this passes

Yes, it will, though it may return for a while if the dose is increased. There is no way of predicting how long these side-effects will continue. Unfortunately it may be a few days, or several weeks.

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my family is divided about me agreeing to take the Zoloft in the first place

They need to know that uncontrolled maternal anxiety and/or depression can harm the baby too, both immediately and in the longer term. Babies born to anxious or depressed mothers tend to have lower birth weights (PDF), be born prematurely and have impaired neuronal development (PDF). As children and adults they are more prone to asthma, dyslexia and to have learning difficulties. They are also much more likely to develop anxiety disorders and/or depression later in life. Unfortunately, antidepressants and pregnancy is an issue where there are no clearcut 'right' answers.

NOTE: I'm not a doctor, and particularly not yours, so there may be factors I'm unaware of. Therefore all advice is of a general nature and you should consult your doctor before following any of it, especially before changing med doses.

Thank you for your response....it does make me feel a little better and hopefully I can just work through the anxiety and just keep reminding myself that it's the medicine that is making me feel this way and nothing serious

Also my OB said I can take Xanax sparingly to help while I get used to the Zoloft my I'm scared to do that since I heard benzos are bad for pregnancy

Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are considered problematic in the first semester, but even then the added congenital defects risk appears to be tiny. There can be non congenital impacts on the neonates too when BZDs are taken daily, especially late in the pregnancy, including feeding problems, decreased muscle tone (floppy baby syndrome) and sedation. However, these occur only infrequently and generally only from long acting BZDs such as diazepam (Valium) and clonazepam (Klonopin) which have been taken daily at the high doses typically only prescribed for epilepsy, not anxiety.

It all comes down to juggling the various risk factors and choosing the path that is likely to do the least harm. In many cases the risk from meds is judged to be less than that from anxiety (and depression).

NOTE: I'm not a doctor, and particularly not yours, so there may be factors I'm unaware of. Therefore all advice is of a general nature and you should consult your doctor before following any of it, especially before changing med doses.

I had such a rough night last night and didn't sleep and was so anxious and panicked.....dr wants me to go down to 25 mg of Zoloft and take it in the morning and hen increase the dose back up to 50 mg once my body gets used to it.... I hope his helps the overwhelming panic and anxiety and hopefully get some more of my appetite back....and be able to sleep at night........I just need some reassurance

dr wants me to go down to 25 mg of Zoloft and take it in the morning and hen increase the dose back up to 50 mg once my body gets used to it.... I hope his helps the overwhelming panic and anxiety and hopefully get some more of my appetite back

Dropping the dose should ease the heightened anxiety and other side-effects being triggered by the Zoloft. Ideally, you should have been started on 25mg, or even 12.mg, and the dose slowly ramped up to the 50mg minimum therapeutic dose. However, I'm guessing you doctor wanted you on an effective dose asap.

Also consider taking the Xanax when the going gets rough. Benzodiazepines are a natural component of our diet, so the body is well equipped to deal with them and this late in your pregnancy any added risk to your baby is tiny.

NOTE: I'm not a doctor, and particularly not yours, so there may be factors I'm unaware of. Therefore all advice is of a general nature and you should consult your doctor before following any of it, especially before changing med doses.

I have taken Zoloft while pregnant four times. All babies are fine. My child with a heart defect was a pregnancy without Zoloft! You'll maybe get a level two ultrasound and feto-echocardiogram to be sure things look good. Anxiety is worse for the baby than the meds! Baby needs a well mama. I also nursed for five or more years on Zoloft.Good luck!!

Thanks for the reassurance... Hopefully I can get the okay to take trazedone with the zoloft cause it worked well for me in the past when I was on celexa I just always get anxiety when taking another medicine even if it's one I had before

NOTE: I'm not a doctor, and particularly not yours, so there may be factors I'm unaware of. Therefore all advice is of a general nature and you should consult your doctor before following any of it, especially before changing med doses.